Marking and signaling means for black-out purposes and the like



March 6, 1945. w. TRAUTNER 2,371,030

MARKING AND SIGNALING MEANS FOR BLACKOUT PURPOSES AND THE LIKE Filed Aug. 11, 1942 IN VENT O R.

'ATTORN EYS.

Patented Mar. 6, 1945 MARKING AND SIGNALING -MEANS FOR BLACK-OUT PURPOSES AND THE LIKE Wagn Trautner, Hamilton, Ohio, assignor to'The Cincinnati, Ohio, a cor- K-D Lamp Company poration of Ohio Application August 11, 1942, Serial No. 454,412

2 claims. (or. 177-329) My invention relates to illuminating means of marking or signaling character for use under circumstances such as those obtaining in blackouts. Such circumstances demand restricted visibility either as to distance or direction or both. It has hitherto been understood that these demands could be met by one or a combination of expedients including the use of a filter for controlling the color value or wave length range or the light, the use of a mask to confine the emission of light to small and sometimes specially de fined areas, and the use of shading or bafile means to prevent visibility in certain directions.

Some circumstances of use require that the marker or signal itself give some indication of the distance of the device from the observer, or the relative heights of the observer and the device, or both. The art has hitherto attained these objects through the use of a mask or stencil containing openings of certain particular sizes and .shapes and certain particular space relationships,

either alone, or in combination with baflie means having an opening of restricted area definitely located in some fashion to the openings inthe mask. 7

My invention is adapted to the provision of structures in which any or all of these objects are attained; but is directed to the solution of mechanical and structural problems in the manufacture and use of devices of the class to which I have referred.

In such structures it is have a sealed or semi-sealed construction such that the various effective parts cannot become fouled, plugged up, or rendered useless by accumulations of mud, dust and the like, and so that a single cleaning operation will serve to free them of whatever accumulations have occurred. It is necessary that such structures be demountable and assemblable in darkness if, for example, the incandescent bulb should burn out or the device otherwise become damaged. Under these circumstances it is necessary to provide for the automatic or semi-automatic alignment of the parts during assembly in darkness to preserve the operability of the devices. It is desirable also that the structures be simple to dismantle, repair and reassemble so that these operations may be rapid. Economy is also a desideratum in these structures.

Fundamental objects of my invention are concerned with the attainment of these advantages in a mechanically simple structure. These and other objects which will be pointed out hereinafter or will be apparent to one skilled in the art necessary that they' upon'reading these specifications, I accomplish by that certain construction and arrangement of parts of which I shall now describe certain exemplary embodiments. drawing wherein:

Figure 1 is an elevational view of one exemplary form of my completed structure. 7

Figure 2 is a front elevation thereof. Figure 3 is atop plan view. Figure 4 is. a vertical section taken along the line 4-4'of Figure 2.

Figure-5 is a rear view of a lens, mask and filter assembly.

Figure 6 is a sectional view thereof taken along the line 6-6 of Figure 5; a

Figure 7 is a front elevational view of the same structure with certain parts cutaway. Figure 8 is a view partly in section and in perspective of a mask element.

Figure 9 is an exploded view intended to illustrate an aspect of theassociation of a mask, a filter and a lens. or bafile element.

Figure 10 is a plan view of another type of mask. I I

Figure 11 is a partial sectional view taken along the line HH of FigurelO. V

Briefly in the practice of my invention I propartly vide a housing element adapted to contain at least the bulb portion of a suitable illuminant and adapted to be attached to thestructurelwith which the device is to be used. This structure will ordinarily be a motor land vehicle, but it may be a boat. Also it will be understood that my marking and signaling devices are adapted for use on stationary structures to indicate their position, for-traffic signaling, and: the like. In connection with this housing andilluminant, I have found that it is possible to provide and employ a unitary sealed combination including a mask, a filter and'a lens. The last element may also be,

or may have in connection with it, suitable bafile means where these are desired. The unitary assembly to which I have referred is adapted to be engaged in the front part of the housing and removably'retained therein by any suitable fasteningmeans. I ordinarily employ a curved spring wire for this. purposabut many other means are available such as a collar engaging both the housing and the unitary assembly, or a removable canfor the housing. I provide means in connection withthe unitary assembly'aforesaid to insure the; proper relative orientation of'the unitary assembly in the housing so that the structure may bereadily disassembled and reassembledin proper relation- Reference is made to the ship under conditions of darkness. It will be understood by those skilled in the art inthe light of the teachings which I make herein that the constructional details of the housing, the bracket, the light source, and the individual elements going tomake up the unitary assembly to which I have referred may be widelyvaried for different purposes without departing from the principles of my invention as expressed in the appended claims I have shown in Figures may be attached to a bracket-3. Preferably this 1; 4 and 3 an exemplary form of housing I, to which isattached in any suitable fashion a holder 2 by which the housing attachment is pivotal so that the device. may be 15 adjusted at least in a vertical plane. The housing is a hollow body which in the form shown is shaped to provide space for an incandescent bulb 5. A socket for the bulb may be located either thereto as at I. the housing is shown as provided with a shoulder 8 against which the unitary assembly hereinafter tobe described may rest. Beyond the shoulder, the housing is somewhat enlarged and shaped depression has side. walls l4 substantially normal to a bottom portion l5; In this bottom portion there are formed such cut-outs, louvres or the like as may be necessary to, restrict" the area of the illumination. About: the cup-shaped depression there are peripheral flange-like walls It. Edge portions of these walls are reversely the cup-shaped depression. l3 and open in the opposit direction.

The shape of the mask stamping will normally be circularin outline though it need not necessarily be so. ever, the shape of the-cup-shaped depression I3 is not fully circular but is flattened. on one side as at l8 for orientation purposes. This flattening of course affects the shape of: the channel also. The bottom l5 of the mask platemay be perforated or treated to-provide the necessary restriction of the area of illumination. The mannor of this does not constitute a limitation upon my invention. Where a mere restriction of the area of illumination is desired, the bottom I5 of the mask stamping may merely be perforated with one or a series of perforations of relatively small area. Again itmay be formed so as toprovide louvres lfias are shown'in Figures 10 and ll. In some instances it will be desired that the shape of the perforations or louvres form an. indicia of some sort. Thus in Figures 5-and '1 I have shown the mask plate formed with a series of perforations making up theletter E. This particular structure may be used. as a marker for socalled emergency vehicles, namely those which arepermitted or required to move about during a blackout. Other indicia can obviously be used for other purposes. Yet again, where the marker or signaldevice is required to provide informa-.

wholly within the housing or as an appendage 20 In the exemplaryv embodiment,

tion as to its distance from the observer, it will be the practice to provide spaced perforations so arranged that they can be seen as separate if the device is within a certain distance of the observer, but merge or blend together if this distance is substantially exceeded. Such perforations may also have special shapesand may be used in connectionwith baflies to give other information such as'the angle of observation. A useful form of such perforations is shown at 2|, 22 in Figure 2.

In the formation of my unitary assembly I place in the cup-shaped depression l3 of the mask stamping asuitable filter element 23. This element willbe of translucent substance. It may be white by transmitted light or it may have such transmission characteristics ,asto cut down the intensity of the light without essentially changing its color. More often, however, it will be itself colored so as to confine thewave length of the light passing through it to a certain region of the spectrum, since colors have utility both in signaling and in determining thedistance of visibility. .The filter device 23 neednot be of the samecolor (or lack of it) throughout but may be differently colored in different parts to ooact with some predetermined arrangementof perforations in the bottom of the mask stamping. Since the shape of the filter element 23 will be the same as that of the cup-shaped depression I3, and since this depression is flattened or otherwise configuredon one side, provision is thus made for the proper orientation of the filter element with respect to the mask plate and the perforations therein. I preferably form my filter elements 23 of a translucent plastic material not subject to ready break bent as at I! so that a. channel is formedabout Where the shape is circular how- 00 age, but other materials,.of course, may befused, including glass. I

Having placed the filter element in the cupshaped depression of the mask plate, I next crimp the edges of the cup-shaped depression about the filter element so as to hold it in place. This may be done by means of a die so shaped, as to'cause the walls M of the cup-shaped depression to engage theedges of the filter element, tightly; In the course of the deformation of the mask plate in accomplishing this purpose, the flange portion 16 which forms the bottom of the channel may have a portion of its surface disposed slantwise as at 24 in Figures 4, 5 and 6. This'has the effect of making the channel somewhat shallower as indicated.

Next I provide a lens element to be used in con- One form of this nection withthe mask plate. lens element is shown in Figure-6 in cross section, and comprises a face portion 25 having a peripheral skirt 26 which terminates in an outwardly extending flange 21. The flange is adapted to enter the channel in the. mask plate, and since this channel has a wider portion orspecial- 1y shaped portionas hereinabove, set forth, the

0 lens element will be correspondingly shaped. In

the exemplary embodiment, one side of the skirt 26 is appropriately thickened as indicated at. 260. in Figures .6 and 7. w 7 I In the outerwall I! of the-mask platev stamping I prefer to form notches or cut-outs indicated most clearly at 28, 2'9, 30 and 3| in Figures 5 and 10. The flange 21 of the. lens element may have corresponding cut-outs .or. notches formed in it as shown at 32, 33, 34 and35. When the lens and themask plate are-assembled,- these notches and cut-outs will. be. in alignment; but as aforesaid, the enlarged skirt area 26a insures the proper orientationof the mask plate and the lens element. In assembly, the flange 21. is placed in the channel of the mask plate and the peripheral wall I! is crimped thereabout as indicated in Figures 4 and 6. This provides a unitary assembly of sealed character and including'the mask, thefilter and the lens. It can be inexpensively made and it can be handled, installed and removed as such. By reason of its unitary and sealed character, the inner faces of the lens and the filter together with the masking portion l5 and its perforations, louvres or the like are protected from dust, dirt and mud. Moreover, when the lampis put together as in Figure 4 01' in some equivalent fashion, my unitary assembly seals the lamp housing so that dust, dirt and mud cannot accumulate therein. These substances can accumulate on the outer surfacesof the housing and on the outer surfaces of the lens 25; but a simple wiping operation will remove them.

The lens-may be madeof glass or any other translucent substance, but I prefer to make it, like the filter, of a transparent or translucent plastic which is non-brittle and not subject to fracture.

My lens may be specially shaped for special purposes. In Figures 1 to 4 inclusive I have shown a type of lens in which the face 25 in its central portion extends outwardly as at 36 to provide a protuberance of substantially rectangular cross section. The front face, of this protuberance 31 parallelsthe portion I5 of the mask plate and is clear or translucent. The remainder of the lens element, however, may be coated with some opaque masking substance as at 38. When this is done, the lens structure additionally forms a baffle element having a fixed space relationship to the perforations 2|, 22 in the mask plate. These perforations can be seen fully only throughout a comparatively narrow vertical angle directly in front of the device. A visual position close to but outside this angle will permit, the observer to see a portion only of the perforations 2|, 22, and since these perforations change their shape vertically, an indication of the vertical direction of view will thus be given. At the same time, any great departure from the angle of view first mentioned will result in a cutting-off of the light passing through perforations 2| and 22, so far as the observer is concerned. Other lens cial purposes.

To provide for the proper orientation of my unitary assembly in thehousing, I preferably provide'the housing at a portion adjacent the 5 shoulder 8 with an indentation indicated at 39 in Figures 2 and 4. This indentation is adapted to enter one of the reliefs formed in my unitary-.

assembly by the notches 28-30 in the mask plate and the cut-outs 32-25 in the lens elements.

Further, the fac of the lens element may be 7 provided with a hump 40 or some other configuraexemplary embodiments, what I claim as newand desire to secure'by. Letters Patent is:

1. In a structure of the class described, a unitary assembly comprisinga mask plate having an opening therein for the passage of, light, a translucent filter element on one side of the mask plate and a-translucent lens element on the other,said

assembly including means integral with said mask plate for retaining said elements in fixed relationship whereby they can be handled as a unit, said last mentioned means acting to prevent the access of foreign materials to the'spaces between the several elements, and comprising means on said mask plate for engaging the edges both of said filter element and said -lens element.

2. In a device of the character described, a

unitary assembly comprising a filter, a mask plate and a lens element in the order described, the said mask plate having a shape providing a depression open to one side and a peripheral channel open to the. other, the said filter being locatedv in said depression, the said lens having a flange element located in the said channel, and the said.

mask plate being crimped against the edges of said filter and said lens whereby to provide a. unitary sealed structure.

WAGN 'I'RAU'I'NER.

shapes and treatments may be adopted for spe- 

